Back from the Dead
by MeliGurlJO
Summary: Epilogue is up. Life in 15 years for the Carter's. Read on.
1. Making a Wish

ER Back from the Dead-1 

Making a Wish (Decisions)

Setting: This takes place during "Beyond Repair." You'll know where.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but I'd like to borrow Carter for a little while.

He felt numb. His whole body felt as if he had been swallowed up into a hole of nothing. He saw nothing—except him, Lucy's killer. He ran off after just after telling him that he was better.

He wasn't. Sobricki could rot in hell for all he cared. He ran to the bathroom, splashing water on his face and checking behind him to make sure that Sobricki wasn't lurking in the bathroom with the blade—the eight inch blade that had made the last two years a living hell.

He was ready to leave when a sudden nausea came over him, and he threw up.

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Twenty minutes later, Carter sat up on the roof. His eyes gazed at the stars above him and his mind wandered. His only thought: Lucy.

What if he had listened to her that day? What if he could've prevented it?

But he couldn't. He never could.

If only he had a time machine to push back time.

But he didn't. She would stay dead forever.

As a shooting star passed, he wispered, "wish you were here, Luce."

And he went back to work.

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For some reason, Carter felt strange. He was off at eleven, and while he should've been tired, he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted and was unbelievably happy. He went home in good spirits and slept, not knowing what tomorrow would bring him.

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So there's the first chapter. Tell me what you think!


	2. What Dreams May Come

ER

Back From the Dead-2

What Dreams May Come

Look on the first chapter for notes.

Carter woke up the next morning feeling quite refreshed. He wasn't tired at all, although his dream was a bit pecular. He dreamt that Lucy was alive, but he was just fooling himself. As he stretched, his eye caught the snow falling outside. He could've been wrong, but it wasn't snowing last night. Oh well, he thought, getting up and looking at the time—6:45. He was late. He turned the radio on and hurried around to get dressed, but couldn't find the pants he wore last night. Great, he's had them for only a month and he already lost them. However, he did find a shirt—which he gave away two years ago.

"And that's Lo Fidelity All Stars, with their new hit, "Battleflag…" the radio blared. Carter's head quickly turned to the direction to the radio.

What the hell, he thought. For one, that song came out two years ago. And number two, the shirt he was holding…

"Oh god," he screamed. It was the shirt he was stabbed in, but…how could that be? His hands wandered to his back to find his momento of that horendous night, but he felt nothing. "No scars, that's weird."

He went over to his calender, and had to actually cover his mouth to hold in the escaping gasps. At the top, in bold letters was "February, 2000." And the crazier thing was that all the days were marked off except the 14th.

Holy shit, he thought. He couldn't have gone back in time—could've he?

No. He was just going over the deep end, and it was about time. He chuckled to himself as he checked his messages, since he couldn't last night.

"John, it's your mother…" he fast-forward that one. That's the last person he needed to hear from. "John, it's Kerry…" fast-forward. "Dr. Carter? It's Lucy. I know I shouldn't be calling you, but…" he stopped the tape and sat down. Then, he started laughing. Oh my gawd, he thought. He really went back. He could finally change the future. He made a silent oath to himself that he wouldn't let **anything **get in the way of him being nice to her today. He would save her, if it were the last thing he'd do.


	3. A Ghost From the Past

ER

Back from the Dead-3

A Ghost from the past

This chapter I offer a very special thank you to Jason. He knew nothing about ER before he met me, but was willing to sit with me at 7:30 in the morning at college to help me go over the story line for this chapter and the ones that may follow. Thanks Jason!

Carter entered the ER about eight a.m. He kept an eye out but the more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed. He finally came to terms—Lucy's dead, and this morning was either a hoax or his mind playing tricks on itself. 

As he arrived to the board, however, he thought different. The board wasn't the new clear one that Kerry purchased a while back, it was the same white one that everyone had come to love over the years. He looked around, and didn't see Susan or Frank. Hm…Maybe he really had gone back in time. He decided to go to assist a patient when his eyes caught Mark and Elizabeth running in, snowball fighting. But…Mark was sick, or so he thought. He seemed fine now. And there she was, calling out for a patient—Lucy. 

"Oh my gawd," Carter said out loud to himself, getting a few awkward glances from Chunni, Haleh and…Carol? Yep, he'd gone back. 

"Are you okay, Dr. Carter?" Chunni asked, grabbing a chart. 

"Yea, fine," Carter replied, walking up to see whom Lucy was calling to…and then he saw him, Paul Sobricki.

"Hey Carter," Lucy said, smiling widely. Carter didn't know what to think, so he smiled back. 

"Lucy, you know what…I'll take this patient. Why don't you assist…uh…well, why don't you take a break?" Carter said, quite nervously.

"That's okay, Dr. Carter. I've got this," Lucy said, sheepishly. "But thank you."

And she took Sobricki to exam room three. 

"Damnit," he screamed, causing a few people to glance his way. "Sorry."

And he went to do charts, and to try to find a diversion to get Lucy away.

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A few hours later, he was able to stall and talk Lucy into coming into the lounge to talk to her. She seemed precautious, but came anyhow.

"What's this about?" she asked, stepping into the door and getting a cup of coffee.

"Listen Lucy, I know I haven't seen Paul, but after doing the spinal tap on him and confirming that it wasn't meningitis, I believe it's…psychological," he said, hoping she'd buy it.

"Well, Carter, I was actually thinking the exact same thing," she said, sipping her coffee.

"You were?" he asked.

"Yes. I called psych, but their backed up so I'm trying to wait it out," she replied, her eyes darting to the door as Carol entered.

"MVA, family of four. ETA is five minutes."

"Thanks Carol," Carter said. "Why don't you attend to that and I'll wait with Paul."

"Um…are you sure," Lucy asked.

"Yes," Carter said. He led Lucy after Carol and went off to exam room three to find Paul.

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Okay, so he did it. Lucy wasn't going to get stabbed now. But he'd been waiting for psych for about five hours now, and hadn't been able to attend to any patients. He'd finally decided to go to the lounge and told Paul to wait there.

On the way, Abby stopped him.

"Carter," she said.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I was wondering if you could help me, for a bit later. It's regarding a patient," she replied, nervously. He couldn't remember her like this.

"Sure, in a little bit," Carter said.

Entering the lounge, he found Chunni and Conni putting a blue cake in the fridge and his eyes caught Paul standing, with his coat on.

"Paul, what are you doing in here?" he asked.

"Just…walking," Paul replied.

"Well, come on," he said, leading Paul back to the exam room. He walked over to the phone and was about to pick it up when a sudden pain hit his back…

"Oh, god," he fell to the floor behind the bed. Is this what Lucy went through? He lay there for a while, and finally slipped into un-consciousness.


	4. Just a Dream

ER

Back from the Dead-4

Just a dream?

Carter woke up in a sweat, his eyes darting around the room. It looked the same. He must've just had a nightmare or something, but why did he smell flowers in his room? He shrugged and shook off the feeling. Glancing at the clock, he saw that he was an hour late. Damn, why was this always happening to him lately? He jumped up and threw open his closet, but not finding his usual attire, but finding new suits and…women's clothes? He was going insane. He grabbed a shirt and khakis, changed and ran out the door. But his shock came with him to the driveway as he saw a parked mini-van there.

"Um…I'm going over the edge," he thought. He glanced down at his hands and saw in his palm a set of keys. "Yep, I'm going nuts." 

He got into the van and was surpirsed to see the naturality that came with starting it up and leaving, but he got a surprise in the back seat. Two car seats, a blue one and a pink one.

"Definitely."

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He finally pulled into his parking space and arrived into the ER at ten till eight, with staring all around. Probably because I'm late, he thought to himself as he waved and ran to put his stuff in the lounge. Entering, he saw someone whom he didn't recognize and…Lucy, who jumped up upon his appearance spilling coffee all over the woman next to her, who immediately got up, cursing herself that she was crazy to come here. Lucy didn't pay attention, though. She just ran up to Carter and gave him a kiss. "Hey honey."

Honey? Was this another fucked up dream, because his vision suddenly blurred and he had to sit down? Lucy immediately ran to him.

"Carter, what's wrong?" she asks, checking his pulse. His look was blank, like he was trying to distinguish her with him. And that's when Carol…entered the room. Could his day be any weirder?

"Lucy?" Carol asked.

"Yea, Carol," Lucy said.

"Can you come up to the nursery real quick?" 

Lucy's face paled. "Sure."

Lucy got up, but came back and took Carter's arm. Why were they going to the nursery? This day was completely messed up, and Carter had to find out why.


	5. Twins

ER

Back from the Dead-5

Twins

See first page just so you can keep reading that I don't own the characters. But…*tear*…I wish I did.

The nursery was bustling with kids when Carter and Lucy arrived. Abby and Carol were attending to the kids, but two in particular, a boy and a girl. Carter looked at their…strangely familiar faces as he entered the room and they caught sight of him. Running to him, they started screaming, "da."

Carter's face paled. Lucy looked at him for any sign of rememberance, but couldn't find it. Abby looked at Carter, than at Lucy. "I'm just going to take **Johnny **and **Lillie **to play. You guys better talk," she said, taking the two kids to the play area.

"Okay," Lucy said. "But why did you all want me to come up here?" 

"No reason," both nurses said in unison. Lucy just shook her head, and led Carter back down to the ER, only stopping at the admit desk to speak with Weaver.

"Kerry?"

"Yes, Lucy?" Kerry said, looking at a chart.

"John and me need to talk…alone. Can we use the lounge?"

"Nothing serious, I hope," Weaver replied, looking at Lucy, who glanced at John. 

"I hope not."

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When they arrived in the lounge, Lucy had Carter sit on the couch and she started pacing. "I don't know what's wrong with you today, John."

John started laughing all of a sudden. Lucy glared at him, like he was insane or something.

"What the hell is up with you?" Lucy asked. He still wouldn't stop laughing. "Care to share?"

"It's just," he said in between laughs. "I can't remember anything. The last thing I remember is you being stabbed on Valentine's day, but you're here, and you're alive, so I'm just going over the edge."

"Um…John," Lucy said, walking over to him and sitting down.

"No, don't tell me you're not really here or I'll be pissed," John said, even laughing at how serious that sounded.

"Sweetie, I wasn't stabbed…you were," Lucy said, tears springing to her eyes.

John's face paled once more. "What?"

Lucy took John's hand into hers and led it to his back, where he definitely felt two scars.

"I don't get it. You were stabbed, and I tried to help you but I was stabbed also," John said.

"No, honey. You took over Sobricki for me and I was attending to patients when I passed by the exam room you were in with him. I heard a ruckus and went in, where I saw…I saw…" Lucy began crying.

"What?" John asked.

"Sobricki, dead. And you were right beside him, just about," Lucy said, sniffling. 

John hugged her. "Please explain…everything."

"Okay," Lucy sighed. "It happened two years ago, on Valentine's day…"

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Okay, the next part will be a little tricky, but bear with me.


	6. Valentine's Day, 2000

ER

Back from the Dead-6

Valentine's Day, 2000

Carter's back hurt, but he didn't fall to the floor like he remembered. He fought back, because he was tough. He stabbed Sobriki, and THEN he fell to the floor, slipping into unconsciousness. 

Lucy Knight, a fourth year med student entered the room, rushing to Carter's aid. "I need a gurney in here…"

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"So, you saved me?" Carter asked.

"Yes, but you might want to hear the whole story."

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Lucy ran along side the gurney with Kerry Weaver trying to push her away. "Lucy, go to chairs. We can take it from here."

Lucy felt like she was back in her third year when they didn't want her to help on her first day. She protested, but Kerry insisted that she rest. Lucy would rather be with John.

Ever since exam room six, Lucy had undeniably strong feelings for Carter and was able to hide them well…until now. With that last thought, she strode off after Kerry, passing exam room three on the way.

She tried to look away, but couldn't so she looked into the room. Blood was on the floor, cops were taking pictures and Sobriki's body was on a gurney, covered by a sheet. Lucy let out a cry that that could've been her. She could've been dead had it not been for Carter. How did he know? She broke down in exasperating tears as Carol passed by.

"Lucy?" she asked. She had only left for a few minutes to go home when she had a phone call. Not knowing what it was about, she came back to the ER to find Lucy in tears. She'd never had liked Lucy, but she felt for her…she really did.

Lucy looked up at Carol and some instinct came over her. She got off the floor and ran for Carol's arms. Carol hugged her, wondering out loud, "what's wrong?"

"Carter…oh god," Lucy replied while her tears began flowing like a river.

"Lucy, what happened to Carter," Carol asked, holding Lucy at arms length.

"He's been…stabbed," said Lucy, hiding her red eyes. "Carol…I love him. I can't lose him."

"You love Carter?"

"Last year," Lucy began. "We had a…thing in exam 6…"

"So it was true?" Carol interrupted, half questioning and half wondering.

"Yes, but he didn't want to go through with it. But tonight has made me realize…" she looked up, her tear stained eyes visible with pain and sorrow. "I can't live without him."

Carol held Lucy again as her crying became more than she could handle. "It'll be all right."

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"You love me?"

"John, how can you say that?" Lucy asked, smiling "Of course I love you, why else would we be married with two kids?"

John took Lucy's hands and held them in his. "Lucy, I'm so sorry about not taking our relationship further in exam six," Carter replied. "I shouldn't have let my stupid pride and stupid respects for this…job get in the way of us."

Lucy looked lovingly into his eyes and gave him a passionate kiss. "It's okay John, we're together now. But…the story's not finished."

"What else could there be?"

Lucy sighed. "A lot."

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Jing-Mei, Abby, Dave, Luka, Mark and Elizabeth entered the emergency room to find Carol and Lucy hugging on the chairs.

"Are you sure?" Carol asked as they all came over.

"Yes," replied Lucy.

"All right," Carol said, motioning for the others to come over. 

"Where's John?" Abby asked.

"Surgery, with Benton, Romano and Elizabeth," Carol replied. "Guys, Lucy wants to pray for Carter's safety."

Everyone knew Lucy was atheist, but went with it anyways. Everyone gathered in a circle and bowed their heads as Carol began speaking. "God, we are praying to you tonight a special request. Our friend, John Carter, has been hurt. We pray to you that you will guide him, love him and heal him. Our father…"

"Who art in heaven," everyone said with Carol. "Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…"

"On earth, as it is in heaven," Lucy joined it. "Give us this day, our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." 

Everyone finished it, but not one wasn't looked at or looked to another with tears in their eyes. They sat back, hugging, awaiting then news that they hoped would come.

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"So…you prayed for me?" John asked, shocked that Lucy was praying or even thought about God. 

"Yes, and we also go to church just about every Sunday now," she replied, taking his hand."

"So…what happened next?"

She sighed, afraid to go on. "We sat there for what appeared to be forever. Mark and Elizabeth went to help, Carol and I were hugging, Abby cried and Jing-Mei, Dave and Luka just sat there, not knowing what to say or what to do. About two hours had passed…"

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The ER couldn't have gotten any scarier than this. Hardly any patients, except for a couple of minor ones and two surgeries, one that tore the whole ER to shreds. 

John Carter's.

Carol sat in chairs holding onto Lucy afraid that if she let her go, Lucy would run out. But Lucy was too distraught to do such a thing. Her only thought was Carter, and hoping that he would live. Abby couldn't think. She hadn't been here that long and Carter was so nice to her. How? How could this happen? Jing-Mei knew Carter from way back then and Luka and Dave practically became brothers to Carter. This couldn't be happening…could it?

The doors opened, and Kerry stood there. Her face solemn, so much that they couldn't depict a thing.

Carol stood, pulling Lucy up with her. Jing-Mei, Dave and Luka stood. Abby stood as well, but ran and held onto Dave. Any other time Dave would hit on her, but not tonight. Not like this.

Kerry sighed, looking at the doctor's and med-students and noticing Lucy's massive tears for the very first time.

"Is he…all right?" Carol asked, gulping a bit. 

Kerry nodded. "His surgery went great, and he's waking up."

Everyone sighed and rejoiced. Lucy stood in shock. She just…smiled.

"He's asking for you, Luce," Kerry said, going her way. Lucy turned to follow when she felt a nudge on her arm and turned back to face Carol.

"Looks like it's about time," Carol said, winking. Lucy giggled a bit, wiping her tears away and sighing in relief, she followed Kerry.

The room was dark when they came on the surgery floor. She could see his form lying there and could hear the door shut when Kerry left. Lucy walked over and sat by the bed, seeing him turning to face her.

"Hi beautiful," he said.

Lucy giggled. How she longed for those words. "I think you're drugged up too much, Carter. How are you?"

"Better. Lucy, I've realised something."

"What?" Her eys glistened with tears as she searched his eyes. 

"Lucy, I…"

The monitor's began beeping widly. Lucy stood up, panicking, as Carter began to seize.

"HELP ME! HELP!" Lucy screamed while rushing out of the room and finding Elizabeth, who was talking to Romano and Peter. They all followed her back into the room, where they found him in…

"V-Tach," Elizabeth screamed, grabbing a crash cart.

Lucy backed up, holding her ears and shaking her head. Why her? Why him? Why now?

She sunk to the floor and exhaustion took over. She passed out.

"Lucy…"

Lucy's mind was swarming. Where was she? She opened her eyes and saw a few blurry figures. She blinked her eyes a few times and finally saw that Carol and Malik were standing above her.

"Lucy, are you all right?" Carol asked. All right? What did she mean? She looked around her and saw that she was in one of the exam rooms on the surgical floor. She was on a gurney, in a gown but…why?

"What's going on?" Lucy asked.

"You passed out. You were pretty tired," Mark Greene walked into the room. "We couldn't move you and we decided to let you sleep for a while."

That's when it hit her like a ton of bricks. John, she visited him and then he…oh god…he was dead. Lucy began crying as furiously as earlier.

"Luce, what's wrong?" Malik asked.

"John, he was about to tell me…he seized…and now he's…" she said between tears. Carol hugged her.

"Lucy, Carter's fine," Mark replied.

Lucy stopped crying. "What?"

"When you got into his room, you passed out," Carol explained. "Kerry said that you just fell to the ground."

"How long has it been like this, Lucy?" Mark asked.

"What?" Lucy questioned.

"We know that the hospital puts pressure on you, but you need to sleep and eat when you can," Malik joked. "I'm glad I'm just a male nurse."

"I agree, but switch mine to female nurse," Carol laughed.

Lucy just sat there, bewildered. John wasn't dead; he was fine.

"But what was he going to tell you, Lucy?" Mark asked. "We couldn't get him to talk."

Lucy smiled. "Can I go find out?"

"Yes."

A couple of minutes later, Lucy was wheeled down the hall and into Carter's room. Carter sat up in bed, eating.

"Decide to grace me with you presence?" John joked.

Lucy laughed and blushed a little bit. "Sorry about that, John."

"That's okay," he replied. "And why are you calling me John?"

Lucy realized that she might have been wrong. After all, she did dream it up. "I don't know."

He sighed. "Lucy, I have wondered about things over the past year or so, and I have come to the conclusion…that I'm a jackass." Lucy giggled and looked to the floor, afraid that he would see her smiling. "But I want you to know that I do have feelings for you, and have since I met you. It was mostly sexual tension between us. And if you would like, I would really like to pursue a relationship with you."

Lucy looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "You don't know how long I've waited to hear that."

"The only thing is, we have to hide it for a couple of months," John replied, looking into her eyes.

"Why?" Lucy asked, inching closer to him. You could really see the spark fly between them both.

"Because it's against the rules for a teacher and a student to date."

And they kissed.

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Lucy and John broke the kiss. It was now the future, and Lucy had just finished the story.

"Wow," John said. "That was amazing."

"The kiss or the story?" Lucy questioned, and glowing in her eye.

"Both," John replied. 

Lucy went on. "So after that, we got married, had two kids and named them…"

"Jonathan Truman Carter the fourth and Lilliana Roberta Carter," John finished.

Lucy smiled from ear to ear. "That's correct. You remember now?"

"Yes, I do," he said, bending down to kiss Lucy. But…he pulled away. "I'm also starting to remember how well I know you, and you look like…you have news."

Lucy giggled, the glowing in her eyes apparantly back. "Yes, I do."

Carter jumped back, pointing at her with such excitement. "You're pregnant."

She nodded. "I am. Carol did the test this morning. I'm 12 weeks along."

Carter kissed her and then bent down and kissed the small bump on Lucy's stomach. "Hi baby. I love you…" he looked up at Lucy, who had tears in her eyes. "…Both."

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That's it. Epilogue will be up soon.


	7. Epilogue15 years later

ER  
Back from the Dead-7  
Epilogue: 15 years later  
A Normal Day  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the ER cast, but I do own Jonathan Truman Carter IV (17), Lilliana Roberta carter (17), Jordan Bailey Carter (14), Crystal Alexandria Carter (12), Bradley Mitchell Carter (10) and Janet Gabrielle Carter (7). By the way, it doesn't mention their whole names for the most part, but I was bored so I gave them whole names.  
  
(12) Nathalie is Abby's daughter, who got married to Dave. (13) Ella is Elizabeth and Mark's (who never died). (15) Kate & Tess are Carol and Doug's daughters (duh). Doug came back, so  
Carol never moved (13) Johanna is Susan's daughter, who came back and married Luka. Rachel is Mark's, whose 25 with two kids and married and pregnant.  
  
"Gaby, give me back my book!"  
  
Lucy watched in her kitchen in her Chicago house as her youngest son, Brad, chased her younger daughter, Janet, whom everybody calls Gaby by her middle name, trying to get one of his schoolbooks back. Lucy laughed. This was the life.  
  
"Mom."  
  
Lucy turned to see her twelve-year-old daughter, Alex, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking distraught.  
  
"What's wrong, Al?" Lucy asked, walking over to her.  
  
Alex, who was dressed in a baseball uniform, turned around. Blood was on the back of her pants.  
  
"I think I started my period," Alex confessed.  
  
Lucy smiled. She went through the same thing with Lillie about five years ago, but Lillie was all ready a girly girl. She suspected it would take time for Alex to get used to it.  
  
"C'mon. I'll bleach your pants and make you a pad, and then we can go later and get you some," Lucy told Alex while ushering her to her own bedroom where she had her own bathroom.  
  
Meanwhile, in the living room, Carter was trying to explain something to his eldest son, John, about his date tonight.  
  
"I already know, Dad. You explain this on every date I go on," John replied.  
  
"Just making sure we're on the same page," Carter patted his son on the back.  
  
"We are," John said, as he held out his hand. "The keys?"  
  
Carter reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. "Be careful," he warned his son, and finally handed the keys over.  
  
"I will," John replied truthfully, and then left. "See you at seven."  
  
Carter waved, then ran his hand through his now grayish hair and walked into the kitchen, where Jordan was sitting at the table, studying.  
  
"Hey son," Carter ruffled his head.  
  
"Daaaaaaaad," Jordan groaned.  
  
"Having trouble?"  
  
"A little bit," Jordan replied. Carter sat next to him and went over the problem with him as Lillie entered the kitchen, grabbing an apple.  
  
"Daddy, I'm picking up Nathalie, Ella, Kate, Tess and Johanna and going over to Rachel's house," she replied, biting into the apple.  
  
"We're going over later when everybody gets back, why don't you wait?" Carter asked.  
  
"Because we wanted to go over to the hospital first so we could visit the kids for Thanksgiving. We'll meet you there," Lillie confessed.  
  
"Well, see you at seven." Carter gave in.  
  
Lillie gave Carter a kiss on the cheek and patted Jordan. "See you guys, later."  
  
"Bye," they said in unison.  
  
"Gaby, give it back!"  
  
John looked over to see Brad chasing Gaby, which they did all morning every morning. They must've not given up yet.  
  
"Janet Gabrielle!" Carter spoke in a warning tone, which made Gaby stop right in her tracks. "Today is Thanksgiving. Be thankful, not annoying."  
  
"Sorry daddy," she handed the book back to Brad, who sat by Jordan. Gaby sat right beside them. Lucy entered with Alex, who was now in black pants and a nice shirt, and sat at the counter.  
  
"Carter, if you want you can go ahead and take Jordan, Brad and Gaby with you and go by the hospital. Al and I will meet you there," Lucy replied, smiling at him.  
  
"I get three, you one. What gives?" he replied.  
  
Lucy shrugged her shoulders and they kissed, followed by a chorus of "ewwwws" from around them. They laughed, as Carter grabbed his coat and tried to round up the three at the table.  
  
"Jordy, what's with work on Thanksgiving?" Lucy asked, looking at his books for the first time.  
  
"Catching up from where I was out last week," he replied.  
  
"And you?" she pointed at Brad.  
  
"Extra credit," Brad replied.  
  
Jordan, Brad and Gaby got their coats on and went outside in the snow to wait while Alex stayed inside, receiving looks from her parents saying, "please give us a minute."  
  
"Whatever," Alex said, grabbing her coat and a banana from the counter. "Just don't take long, lovey dovey birds."  
  
Lucy wide-eyed look from her daughter's choice of words followed her until she could no longer be seen, which then had Lucy looking into the eyes of her husband.  
  
"Almost 18 years," Carter said, kissing Lucy.  
  
"Yep," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "We've survived that long. It's.amazing."  
  
"Thanks," Carter replied, sarcastically.  
  
Lucy sighed, but was smiling. "You know what I mean. The fact that, if you hadn't been stabbed." tears were forming in her eyes. "We might never have gotten together."  
  
"We would've," Carter predicted.  
  
"How do you know?" Lucy questioned, casting a side-ways glance at her husband.  
  
Carter took a deep breath, not believing that he was now releasing his secret. "I.love you, and I did from the night that you went looking for Corrine's father and will until forever." Carter and Lucy kissed, but Lucy began crying.  
  
"It didn't help, you know. It didn't save Corrine." Lucy sniffled, hugging Carter and not wanting to let him go.  
  
"No, but you didn't give up. You're a fighter, Lucy. You may be stubborn at times," Carter said, winking at Lucy who made her, through the tears, laugh. "But you're a fighter. You fought for me, Lucy. You helped save me when I was on that floor, bleeding to death and you prayed for my safety despite your beliefs. You're a loving, caring person and that night was like a gift for us. It made us both realize that we were meant for each other. That's how I knew, and that's why I love you."  
  
Lucy looked at Carter from the tears that were flowing out of her like a river. She smiled. "You saved me, too."  
  
"I know."  
  
Carter winked at Lucy as they shared another kiss. "I love you Jonathan Carter."  
  
"I love you too, Lucy Carter."  
  
And they both grabbed their coats, and walked outside, hand in hand but parting their separate ways, to meet again in no time, to be with family and friends.  
  
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * That's it. I was going to write a separate series, but I wasn't certain that I should. If you want me to, just reply to this.  
  
Thanks to those who read this story, even with the short chapters and the delay over it.  
  
~Mel 


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